Taco flavored kisses...

First, Congrats to my sister-in-law and her boyfriend who just got engaged this weekend! Very exciting that we will have another official addition to the family and another party for all the cousins to dance, sing and partake of many, many tequila shots.

Friday we found a great new Mexican restaurant El Paisano where we celebrated Leslie's birthday, complete with a personal mariachi serenade.




It was followed by bowling and an impromptu modeling session with Wendy's sweet hat.

Check out my new specs!!!

Saturday was my dear, sweet Australian friend Sonya's baby shower. Baby expected early April.



Sunday was tea with Leigh, my other dear, sweet friend who is expecting, at The London Tea Room. I love this place!

Weekends go too fast....

Children are not Decor

[photo via NYT]

Andrew started getting the New York Times sent to the house a few weeks ago. I came home one day and saw this story Parent Shock: Children are not Decor. I found it to be a very humorous article because as many of you know...I am a bit of a design whore. This has become more apparent to me as all of my friends have had babies in the last two years and those babies are starting to come over to my house and climb on my vintage Lane coffee table; throw their food on my Interface Tile carpet and drool on my Intaglia couch. (I love you friends and babies!!)

My point is that times are changing and I need to adapt...which is exactly what this article was about. How do grown ups like me....who love design, adapt to having kids around. If Andrew and I want to keep our friends it is obvious that we are going to have to either baby proof our house or get used to the idea that our design fancy things are going to get some good old use from kids. I think it might be a combo of both. Stay tuned.

Stainless Steel

So there was a bunch of stuff on my Christmas list that didn't make it under my tree last year, so I decided that I needed to get it for myself. The first item on my list was this Timolino vacuum infuser bottle. I got it from Amazon but first heard about it from Oh Joy. There were a couple reasons this bottle caught my attention.

1. I like to drink tea and this bottle has a built in infuser so you can put loose tea leaves in it but still drink out of it without having to remove the leaves.
2. It's made out of stainless steel. I'm not sure when this scare started...but it was sometime last fall when I started reading everywhere about the dangers of hard plastics (such as the plastic that Nalgene bottles are made out of). Something about bad things leaching out of the plastic and the more time that passed, the more articles I read in the design and magazine world about people switching to stainless steel options like Sigg and Klean Kanteen.

What really sold me was one of the Amazon reviews from a solider who took his Timolino to Iraq. You really can't beat that kind of endorsement.

I have to say that I am a satisfied customer. The bottle has a great design - sleek, clean and light. It is made of double walled stainless steel but has a coating on the outside that keeps it super cool to the touch. I have gotten several compliments and questions about it at work. Best of all it works really well. It keeps your beverage SUPER HOT... for a LONG TIME! If I make tea in the morning it will still be hot 3-4 hours later. Also, the lid really is leak proof.

Since all of my friends have been having babies lately, the next two products caught my eye.

• One is a baby bottle that claims to be free of BPA (the bad stuff that they claim comes out of hard plastics).

They also have a stainless steel bottle design for adults. I like the design of this one...I might get it to use for water.

• The other product is a stainless steel sippy cup.

I guess I just wanted to put this info out there to educate my friends and family about the possible risks of BPA and to educate my friends and family about their options. While the risk is still disputed...why not err on the side of caution and use a safer alternative.

Here are some articles about BPA. I hope some of you find this helpful.

Renovating

Well as you can clearly see I've been doing some renovating around here.... Blogger has come a long way in the last few years and it's about time that I took advantage of it...plus I'm hoping that it will inspire me to start posting again on a regular basis.




January was full of cosmetic changes...in the house and to myself. We moved our TV to the living room and changed the use of our room off the kitchen into a mudroom/breakfast area. We have big plans for this room...but it won't be for awhile. (still paying for that great wedding...)

Speaking of the wedding...if you live in Missouri or Kansas, check out your newstands around the first week of June. Andrew and I will be in The Knot magazine. If you don't live in the midwest we are also supposed to be on the website. Obviously I'll post more details in June.

Back to cosmetic changes.... I colored my hair (although it's faded a bunch already); and I got new specs! This was a birthday gift from A. since I have been dying for a new pair for 2 years. It was the only thing I really, really wanted. I will try and post a picture asap.

VOTE!

Yes We Can!

Vote for Change!

Don't forget to vote tomorrow!

Obama 08'

Feb. 3, 2008

Be content with what you have, rejoice in the way things are. When you realize there is nothing lacking, the whole world belongs to you.
Lao Tzu [via ali edwards]

Happy 2008!

[May 2007, Me and Andrew toasting after "tying the knot" at City Hall.]

December 20th was my birthday and in my circle of dear friends it has become customary during every birthday for the Birthday Boy or Girl to answer the Schmidt-Baker Birthday Questions.

The first question is: What happened this year? Give your year in review.

2007 was a HUGE year for me (hence why I had no time to blog!).

• January - May I was busy finishing up my wedding plans and completing my Associates degree in Interior Design.
  
• In June I got married.
• In July and August I anxiously searched for a job.
  
• In September I started my new career as an interior designer, saw my brother-in-law get married and started yet another class (I can't get enough of school!).
  
• October - Present I was busy finishing my class, learning a new job and trying to get my life back to a normal pace.

It was a whirlwind but I loved every minute of it. It was really a very, very blessed year.


The second question is: What did you learn? (This one is always the hardest for me...)

• I learned how to plan a wedding
• I learned how to knit a hat
• I learned that I can't eat pork
• I learned how to "run" at 80% instead of 120% (a.k.a. RELAX!)
• I learned to face some of my fears
• I learned that dreams can come true

The third question is: What are you looking forward to for your next year?

• Our wedding is going to be in "The Knot" magazine and website! (how cool is that!)
• Hopefully attending a wedding in Napa Valley
• Hopefully attending a wedding in Austin, Texas
• Meeting Baby Parker and Baby Scott
  
• Spending quality time with family and friends
• Doing yoga regularly
• Getting better at my job
• Sewing more
• Fixing up my house
• Cooking more with my husband
• Being a better blogger!

As for New Year Resolutions Andrew and I picked 3:

• No more eating on the couch
• Exercise more
• Paying off our debt

I'm feeling pretty confident about the last one....but the first two are gonna be a challenge!

Actually last night I read Ali's one word for 2008 - vitality. "Vitality is the state of being strong and active; energy.

I couldn't have picked a better word! I have been sick most of the last month and it sucks! In 2008 I want to feel strong and I want to have energy. That's my most important goal. I figure if I can do that, everything else will fall into place.

In order to start the year off on the right foot I am going to spend part of my day today with my meditation group for a special program. I just hope I can keep myself from coughing through the whole thing.

Sending you wishes for a fantastic first day of 2008 and many more fantastic days to follow!

3rd Annual Tour de Moose

First some background: The Tour de Moose was started by Moose (a.k.a. Kevin) as a way to celebrate his birthday. It is a 20 mile bicycle "race" through south city neighborhoods and downtown St. Louis traveling between Moose's favorite neighborhood bars. At each bar there is an activity (contest) with a prize and you are awarded 30 seconds off your overall time for each beer that you drink. There are several trophies to win including the "taking it easy" award for the slowest time; the "most moosed out" award for the most moose decorations; the "crash and burn" award for the best bike crash of the day, etc.

This year Andrew and his friend Jeff decided to step it up a notch by renting a quadcycle. This was a very ambitious endeavour considering the quadcycle only has ONE gear and is HEAVY! Andrew and Jeff were troopers and only had to get out once to take turns pushing the cycle up one long difficult incline. They decorated the quadcycle to the nines, including a mini Heineken keg. Andrew and Jeff won TWO trophies, the best decorated bike and the "kick-ass" award (obviously won for riding a quadcycle!)






I, on the other hand, attempted to knock Reverend Bob from winning the "Taking it Easy" award for the third year in a row. Unfortunately it didn't work (that pesky Bob!) but I did win the tricycle race at the TapRoom! 15 seconds! Woohoo!



It was a gorgeous, sunny fall day and it was really a great time. The tour once again doubled in size this year, up to almost 60 riders. We even had people show up to ride who none of us knew. I think a Tour committee is being formed to consider changes to be made to accommodate so many riders. The end of the tour party was a bit unruly.

Andrew and I are considering recumbent bikes for next year. Andrew wants to decorate his like a rocket.

You can view more pictures of the tour here, here and here.

It's our wedding date! June, 23!

Me (in my official Tour shirt), Leslie, baby Madeline, Denice and Nancy

Gina, the Most Moosed Out and MOOSE!

Baby Update

Andrew was in New Jersey last week and met Baby Zach and delivered the little knitted cap I made for him. A bit big but it was supposed to be...it is sized for a 1-2 year old. Hopefully it will fit better in the spring when he will really need it.

I love this photo....Zach looks pissed!

• Baby Landsbaum has given us two false alarms. His mom says that they may have to induce very soon. (You are in our thoughts and our 'strength' candle is ready!)
  

• Baby Jaiswal had a shower a couple weeks ago. I am still finishing her knitted blanket. I have only a couple more rows to go, but I ran out of yarn...so I think it will be done in another week.

• Baby Rainsford is due Nov. 19. Mom looks good and she thinks the baby will come early just like the first one did.

• I haven't heard any updates on Baby Huypen lately. I can't remember her due date but it has to be soon.

• Baby Scott is expected in February and mom is doing well. She has the cutest little belly in the entire world!

• and there is another expected baby to add to the list (NOT MINE!) but I'm not sure if the mom-to-be is ready for me to advertise yet, so I'll wait for another time.

Holy cow!! That is a lot of babies!! I guess I have some more knitting and quilting to do.

I'm off to Florida for the rest of the week for work but when I get back it is time for the Tour de Moose! It will be my first time participating and I have a feeling that I am going to be exhausted from traveling but I'm sure it will be a good time. Look for photos next week.

America's Next Formica Model

Wow, life has been busy.

My first week of work I was thrown in with both feet, working on several projects right from the start. On top of learning the ropes I decided to take care of 4 chihuahuas while my friends were out of town. Don't let their cute faces fool you....they wore me out!

Daphne, the princess

Chico, the elder

Jimmy, the shaky one

Oliver, the trouble maker!

After the chihuahuas it was on to making a dress out of Formica. Yes, I said a dress out of Formica. In the first hour of my new job I was asked to fill in as a model for a fellow designer who had broke her ankle. The IIDA (International Interior Design Association) has a fashion show that consists of design teams matched up with manufacturers. We were paired with Formica. Since I had the most time and the best sewing skills I ended up making a lot of the dress myself.

I am sad to say that my dress was the most amateur dress at the event. I was disappointed that I didn't have the time to make something more spectacular but in the end I was mostly concerned about making sure that the owner's daughter, who modeled with me, had a good experience and a lot of fun.

Here are my favorites:

This is carpet!

Life isn't slowing down in October:

• I am traveling for work the next two weeks, Indianapolis and Floridaa.
• Oct. 20 is the third annual Tour de Moose (which will be my first! since I am not working on Saturdays anymore, woohoo!) (website built by Andrew!)
• I am also still taking a class on Tuesday nights and doing my homework on Saturdays.
• My maid of honor is moving into the neighborhood on Oct. 26 and we will be helping them settle in.
• Baby Landsbaum is expected any day now! We will be cooking meals for the parents, trying to keep them strong and rested.

Enjoy your October!

Out with the knitted baby blanket

Over the last couple years I have knitted many, many baby blankets. Don't get me wrong I have enjoyed each and every one, but it was time to move on to something new. Plus I was sitting around at home without a job and I needed something to focus on.

Therefore I decided that Baby Landsbaum was going to get a baby quilt instead of a knitted baby blanket. I started it about a month ago...but of course, as soon as I started it life decided to get busy.

Amazingly I was able to finish it just a few hours before the baby shower started. (Whew!) It was my very first complete quilt, start to finish. I machine quilted it and the binding was finished by hand. I must say I really loved the end result and I was almost sad to see it go...but I know it will be in a good home with a great family and I will get to visit it often.

The pattern was from Denyse Schmidt Quilts.

From one Sara(h) Veety to another...

Happy Birthday Sistah!

It's Official

I have accepted a job offer from a commercial interior design firm in St. Louis.

I AM SO EXCITED!


I have really been blessed this year and I want the universe to know how grateful I am. Things could not have worked out better...

While I struggled with being unemployed this summer it gave me time to coordinate and enjoy my wedding and honeymoon; it gave me an entire summer off to enjoy my new husband and spend time with my friends; and it gave me time to think about what I really wanted out of my new career.

I could not have asked for a better opportunity. I will be working in a beautiful office with really lovely people and doing work that I'm proud of. (Eventually I'll be designing in the field of Senior Living).

I start on Monday!

I HUGE shout out to my dear friend Karen who made this all possible for me by giving me someone to contact. I owe you BIG TIME!!

And thanks to everyone that listened to me worry and stress over the last three months (especially Andrew...). I couldn't have done it without your love and support. XXOO

Wedding Extravaganza 2

We are back from our wedding weekend in Charlotte. It was a long weekend of manicures, motorcycles, food, family and dancing! It was so nice to get a chance to visit with Andrew's family since we didn't get a chance at our own wedding.


Matt and Elena got married in the sweetest little church.
Here is the beautiful bride with her Grandmother who came all the
way from Romania for the wedding.

Here is the groom (my brother-in-law) with his parents.

At the reception the "cousin's" table wasted no time ordering rounds of shots. Once the dance floor opened it was non-stop dancing, shaking and singing! I had a total blast and let loose. I got several comments the next day about my dancing skills. I guess Andrew's family really hasn't seen me "party" before. (I was sober, of course... I had one beer and one glass of champagne).
I can't wait for a cousin reunion!

Saturday Night

Andrew and I spent our Saturday night learning how to entertain 4 month old Benjamin. We gave his parents time to go out on a movie date. Turns out that Andrew has the magic touch. Each time Ben would get upset Andrew would figure out a way to calm him down.

Life for me has gotten really busy. I'm juggling an internship with a Residential designer; an evening class to learn Revit, an architectural computer program; still job hunting and trying to finish my office remodel.

My office is in shambles. Somehow in my rush to get it done I've ended up doing everything backwards. The walls are painted but the ceiling is not. I still have to hang my new shelves and eventually repaint the trim. All of my stuff is still scattered throughout the second floor. Unfortunately it's going to have to wait yet another weekend.

Andrew and I are on our way to North Carolina this weekend to see wedding #2 for the Veety family this year. Andrew's brother Matt is about to head down the aisle. It should be a great wedding since the bride is Romanian and we get to be a part of a different culture's traditions.

I've added some links of my favorite new blogs to the right; absolutely beautiful things, bloesem, housemartin and stylecourt.

And if I haven't mentioned it already Andrew is blogging at slowdownandeat. Check it out and see the fun food we ate this weekend.

A shout out to JonBoy, Reverend Bob and Arnaud who are all celebrating birthdays this week. Happy Birthday Friends!

Lessons from Barbara Barry

[via Kohler Interiors, Barbara Barry furniture line]

Feeling defeated this morning.... I thought for sure I would be on the path to my dream job by now, and my ego is having a hard time understanding what exactly went wrong. Insecurity is creeping in....

I have an interview this morning for an unpaid internship. It is in residential design, which I have been avoiding because of its attachment to socio-economic status.

Through the grapevine I found out that the firm I am going to see this morning has a new client that wants the look of Barbara Barry. Barbara Barry is an extremely talented designer of interiors and furniture and I really love her work. I went to her website this morning to do some "research" and I found something on Barbara's "About" page that both surprised me and spoke to me.

"style has nothing to do with money and everything to do with how you feel about yourself."

Residential design is an industry that has an expectation for style and an attachment to where you live, what you wear and what parties you attend. All of this has bothered me from day one...but I've never been able to find a way around it. Barbara's insight reminds me that I can exist in this industry I just have to look within myself, not outside myself.

My other big insecurity in this business is when people call me a decorator. For me it is an association with being uneducated and insignificant. But really, deep down, I know that decorator or not, living in a space that is functional and beautiful is a blessing. I shouldn't be embarrassed to believe that it is important to have a beautiful space, private or public; expensive or not.

Barbara says:
"good and thoughtful design can affect our lives profoundly, and hold us in quiet ways. I believe that beauty is healing and inspiring; I want to help others see beauty in all areas of their lives."

So really all I need is confidence.... sounds easy, right? Confidence in how I feel about myself and confidence in how I feel about design. Guess I've got some work to do....

Here's to a new adventure... Residential interview number 3 (the third one is the charm right?) I hope this one is better than the last two...and I hope it changes my outlook and opens my mind to new opportunities.

Joint Compound

Wow...another week has flown by. I've been busy.

I've been spending most of my time smoothing out the walls of my office. They used to look like this

A horrible decorative/textured plaster job by someone that was obviously an amateur. Some spots were swirled, some flat, some just ugly. And for some awful reason the previous owner did a really bad paint job in this room with a grayish, off-white paint. It was as if they wanted to highlight the ugliness of these walls.

I really can't believe I've lived with it this way for two years. I've spent the last couple weeks covered in joint compound doing my best to smooth out the swirls. I just have to sand one more wall and I'm ready for paint, FINALLY!

This past weekend we were busy with lots of friends. Thursday was softball; Friday was dinner with Leigh and John to hear about their mountain biking vacation to Asheville; Saturday was outdoor movie night at Grand Center (we got to use our new table and the movie was Goonies!); Sunday we drove out to Augusta to hang out at a winery and a brewery with friends (not so fun in 100+ degree heat!)

I have two interviews this week. One for an unpaid internship and the other for what I hope is a full time job. Although the internship is unpaid...I will learn a lot and I can add it to my resume; AND it will keep me out of the house a couple days a week. PLEASE keep your fingers crossed that I don't need the internship and I get one of the jobs I'm waiting for...ever so patiently!

And a quick congrats to our friends Adam and Kelly who just purchased a new home, built in 1875, in the village of Fayetteville, NY. Adam was inspired by our 1907 home in St. Louis and our surrounding community of friends, parks, shops and restaurants. He wanted to find a similar community for his family. I can't wait to see it! I hear they have a tin ceiling in the living room.

card for the day: Be Humble

"Don't allow the approval and attention of others to destroy you. Remain humble and grateful for all your accomplishments, and know that a force greater than your ego is always at work in your life"

~Dr. Wayne Dyer, Power of Intention Cards

This hit the nail on the head today.... Still struggling with the job search, or lack there of... It is very difficult to keep from feeling defeated and insecure every time I get a "we are not hiring" letter. This "lack of approval and attention" is "destroying me..."

The current saying that I have been repeating to myself is: "good things come to those who wait". This makes me think about something greater than myself having plans for me... and to just enjoy the moment while the bigger picture gets taken care of without me. This can be comforting but I also have my moments where I just feel crazy like my hands are tied and I have no control over my future. I just want to go in the back yard and scream as loud as I can..."I JUST WANT TO WORK!"

I had my suspicions that finding something would be difficult....but somehow this process is turning out to be worse than I was prepared for...

As my mother always says, "Whatever is meant to be, will be." I'm just not sure what to do in the meantime....


Actually I take that back, despite all my frustration and angst I have found plenty of time to enjoy life while I've been waiting and staring at my phone...

I've been listening a lot to Regina Spektor's new CD. You can listen to it online.

Last night I watched an interesting documentary on the Sundance channel called Blue Vinyl that I read about via Apartment Therapy:Green. It was good and I definitely learned a lot of good information that I was not aware of....but it also left me with a pit in my stomach. There is a LOT of stuff in this world that is bad for us...and sometimes it just feels overwhelming to try to keep track of it all, much less replace it all. While this director focuses on vinyl siding, vinyl is used in a TON of other household items. It seems almost impossible to get away from it all without making it your full time job.

Tonight I am hosting a punyatithi (auspicious lunar day) at my mediation group because it is Bhagavan Nityananda's mahasamadhi (when a great being leaves his physical body). It's been a LONG time since I hosted but I figured maybe it would be good for my karma...(come on universe! work with me!) I've been attending meditation more often this month and it is nice to have it back in my life.

I'll leave you with my horoscope that I stumbled upon today...
Sagittarius Your power is fully engaged this week as you struggle to express your needs. Although it may be totally inappropriate to just put your feelings out there, you must find an acceptable way to get the energy moving. Don't worry if you don't know what the future holds. Let your highest ideals guide you through a process. Ultimately, your integrity will have the greatest impact on your happiness.

Ring, ring...

[via art.com]

Praise the heavens I got a phone call today!!! (don't get too excited....it's not THE one I've been waiting for....)

I don't want to say too much because it always seems to jinx the whole situation....but considering I have been waiting an entire month it is worth noting.

I have contacted over 20 design related companies in the last four weeks and not ONE single person has had the decency to call me back! Today someone finally called me back...RELIEF!

Now I'm not sure if this phone call will mean that I even get an interview...but it's a step in the right direction and that is a direction that I have been dying for.

I didn't call them back today because I just wanted to enjoy it...relish in it...feel the satisfaction of knowing that I might have at least one opportunity out there! So tomorrow I call. (I'm glad I took my suit to the dry cleaners.)

(P.S. thank you Karen!!!!)